I spent Memorial Day picking strawberries and making preserves. I'm
fairly new to this, with just a few batches of preserves under my
belt. This time I had several jars that didn't seal during the boiling
bath. I didn't check the jars until 24 hours after canning. I'm left
with 2 questions:
1) if the preserves sat unsealed for 24 hours, can I still use them? I
put them in frig. in case I can. One jar I realized didn't seal almost
immediately and put that in the frig. and have used it. It hasn't set
up yet, but tastes fabulous! (if I do say so myself.)
2) any ideas on why a low seal rate (about 2/3 of the jars sealed
properly) my method was a bit different from past tries in that I
boiled the empty jars/lids first, then put them in a 200 oven until I
needed them (read an article that suggested this.) In times past I
kept them boiling in a separate stock pot until I needed them. After
filling, a 10 minute boiling bath in a canner.
Thanks!

In article >,
(Lynn) wrote:

> I spent Memorial Day picking strawberries and making preserves. I'm
> fairly new to this, with just a few batches of preserves under my
> belt. This time I had several jars that didn't seal during the boiling
> bath. I didn't check the jars until 24 hours after canning. I'm left
> with 2 questions:
> 1) if the preserves sat unsealed for 24 hours, can I still use them?

Sure. You'll have no problems in that length of time.

>I put them in frig. in case I can.

Yup, that's the right thing to do.

>One jar I realized didn't seal almost immediately and put that in the
>frig. and have used it. It hasn't set up yet, but tastes fabulous! (if
>I do say so myself.) 2) any ideas on why a low seal rate (about 2/3 of
>the jars sealed properly) my method was a bit different from past
>tries in that I boiled the empty jars/lids

You're right to sterilize the jars. Boil the jars, not the lids. Ball
Blue Book says to follow mfgrs' directions. If there are none, 10
minutes in *simmering* water (180 deg). Keep in simmering water until
used. They also say that lid failure can occur by overheating by
boiling. (Page 11)

My failure rate on seals (I only do sweet spreads, a few pickles, and a
couple relishes) is about 1 in a hundred. Seriously. (I usually do
about 350-400 jars of stuff every summer; mostly sweet spreads).

I use Kerr mainly, all they need is a minute or so in hot water (check
the box; it might say); I dump mine in when I take the jars out (Hmmm,
might be boiling, but they're not in there for the 10 minutes that the
jars are.)

>first, then put them in a 200 oven until I needed them (read an
>article that suggested this.)

Why? Did the article say? Hot water's fine.

>In times past I kept them boiling in a separate stock pot until I
>needed them. After filling, a 10 minute boiling bath in a canner.

Quit cooking your lids, Lynn. :-) They should come from hot water to
the jar lid. (Did you have better luck before you started baking them?)


> Thanks!
>
--
-Barb, <www.jamlady.eboard.com> Sam I Am updated 5/30/04.
Only 3-1/2 weeks until my birthday. "Shop early, shop often, shop
big." Good gin and cheap chocolate preferred. Or is it cheap
gin and good chocolate? I can never remember. . . .

in article , Lynn at
wrote on 2/6/04 9:51 am:

> I spent Memorial Day picking strawberries and making preserves. I'm
> fairly new to this, with just a few batches of preserves under my
> belt. This time I had several jars that didn't seal during the boiling
> bath. I didn't check the jars until 24 hours after canning. I'm left
> with 2 questions:
> 1) if the preserves sat unsealed for 24 hours, can I still use them? I
> put them in frig. in case I can. One jar I realized didn't seal almost
> immediately and put that in the frig. and have used it. It hasn't set
> up yet, but tastes fabulous! (if I do say so myself.)
> 2) any ideas on why a low seal rate (about 2/3 of the jars sealed
> properly) my method was a bit different from past tries in that I
> boiled the empty jars/lids first, then put them in a 200 oven until I
> needed them (read an article that suggested this.) In times past I
> kept them boiling in a separate stock pot until I needed them. After
> filling, a 10 minute boiling bath in a canner.
> Thanks!
>
Jams are rather low risk products. What you need to worry about is mold.
You could try re processing them with new lids. Did you actually boil the
lids for 10 minutes and then keep them in the oven? If you did that might
be part of your problems. that process works quite well for jars, but not
lids.
Ellen

On Wed, 02 Jun 2004 22:13:40 GMT, Ellen Wickberg
> wrote:

I know this is not safe but my mom calls that jelly mold and
as a child in the 30's she said they would just scoup it off
and finish eating the jar.
This is from a family of 11 with one income.

>Jams are rather low risk products. What you need to worry about is mold.



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in article , kenny at
wrote on 6/6/04 3:35 pm:

> On Wed, 02 Jun 2004 22:13:40 GMT, Ellen Wickberg
> > wrote:
>
> I know this is not safe but my mom calls that jelly mold and
> as a child in the 30's she said they would just scoup it off
> and finish eating the jar.
> This is from a family of 11 with one income.
>
>> Jams are rather low risk products. What you need to worry about is mold.
>
>
>
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> -----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =-----
I think that everyone used to scoop of the mould. We didn't know that some
moulds secrete carcinogens ( cancer causing liquids). Without analysis, we
don't know which moulds are the cancer causing ones. If you can afford not
to take that risk it's better. It's the same reason that wax is no longer
recommended for sealing jams and jellies because it may have tiny holes that
let the mould spores settle and grown on the jelly.
Ellen